Friday, February 27, 2015

The New York Yankees camp is in
full swing now as the position players have reported.Alex Rodriguez being down there two days
early helped as Wednesday wasn't too bad and Thursday when they had their first
official workout wasn't so bad either.Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi are tired of answering questions
abouthim but that will continue at
least for a while.

The main topic on the first day was
of course Rodriguez.Mark Teixeira may
know him best of all the teammates, they were first teammates in Texas and now
have been in New York for a few years.Here is some of what he had to say yesterday about Rodriguez.He was asked if Rodriguez has changed and
said that is a tough question to answer.He said I don't know he is the same guy I have known a long time.He said in 2009 it was the same circumstances
and had a great year.He did a great job
of putting it behind him and playing baseball.He said the entire job did a good job of putting it behind them and that
is what Teixeira expects this year.

He said the difference between the
two is Teixeira wasn't well past his surgery last year like Rodriguez is this
year.He is not in rehab mode and I
think he feels pretty good Teixeira said.Teixeira said the last thing to come as a power hitter is the carry.Teixeira was asked about the state of the
game with PEDS and said he thinks it is better than ever.He said when he came up in 2003 there was
weird testing and you could still do it and have no penalty.He said he has been outspoken about the users
and he doesn't like it.He said though
if you are willing to take the chance then you have to look in the mirror.He said it is what it is, there will always
be someone trying to cheat.He said it
is like in school you worked hard and got a B and someone else cheated and got
an A, nothing you can do about it.He
said a lot of people make bad decisions but that doesn't mean they are a bad
person.He said Rodriguez is not a bad
person, he has just made some bad decisions.

Larry Rothschild brought up the
idea of six starters again even though it was overshadowed by Arod.Brian Cashman said we will see how realistic
it is, he said in a perfect world it makes sense but first they have to get
five starters.Masahiro Tanaka threw
another bullpen, this one was forty pitches.Joe Girardi said it was very good that he threw all of his pitches.He said the arm strength looks good and they
will continue to move him along and get him ready for a game.Girardi said they don't know when he will get
him in a game but they will get him ready for that.

Jacoby Ellsbury said he will hit
anywhere in the lineup and Girardi gave no real indication of his plans for the
lineup.I would expect Ellsbury and
Brett Gardner to be 1 and 2 in the lineup and that is how I feel it should be.Girardi said they have thrown around ideas
but it is too early to decide on a lineup.The Yankees had a meeting before their first full squad workout and it
doesn't appear Rodriguez spoke but so far so good with his interactions with
the fans, media and teammates.Rodriguez
go this first baseman's glove but hasn't started breaking it in yet.Rodriguez actually did play a little first on
Friday but basically just flipping to pitchers when they were working on
covering first base.He did take some
more BP and looked better today than he has since he got there according to the
reports.

The Yankees had photo day on
Friday.Luis Severino the top pitcher
faced top prospect Aaron Judge in live batting practice on Friday.That drew a lot of attention and Severino
struck him out.Severino was one of some
impressive pitching in the back field.Nathan Eovaldi split innings with Severino and Jacob Lindgren and
Branden Pinder came out for an inning a piece.The four hard throwers faced Judge, Kyle Roller, Jake Cave and Tyler
Austin.Cave was impressed by Severino
but said that he is always impressive.

The Yankees have their first injury
of the spring.Brendan Ryan will miss
about five days because of a mild strain in his back.He hurt himself lifting weights before
reporting to camp.CC Sabathia threw a
bullpen on Friday and has been wearing a protective brace on his knee.The Yankees are moving slowly due to that
knee injury with Sabathia.Girardi said
they have plenty of time and they don't have to rush him.Girardi said he will wait until Saturday to
announce his starters for the first few games of the grapefruit league next
week.It is being speculated that Adam
Warren will start the opener on Tuesday.The Yankees are scheduled for an intrasquad game on Sunday and a light
day on Monday before the spring opener on Tuesday.Teixeira and Beltran have made a strong
impression so far by the way they reported to camp which is a good sign, we
will see if they can stay healthy though and then they should be
productive.The Yankees were also very
impressed with Severino and his sim game on Friday.Girardi said " Young kid with a great
arm."He said he has a good slider
and changeup and it is something to get excited about.Eovaldi had a two inning simulated game and
Girardi was happy with that.He said
"Really good stuff, Powerful arm."It is interesting and fun with all the young kids in camp and they are
generating buzz which is good for the Yankees.They have been a older veteran team for a while and it is good to see
them try to get younger and develop the next wave of homegrown stars.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Lucas Duda has been dealing with a
left oblique issue and will swing a bat in two or three days.Curtis Granderson is not concerned about
where he will hit in the lineup.Terry
Collins is unsure if Rafael Montero can crack the 25 man roster.

There was already a bunch of praise
for new hitting coach Kevin Long especially from Granderson who worked with him
when they were both with the New York Yankees.There was some talk with a couple of people who are close to manager
Terry Collins that he will retire at the end of the year.Collins denies it though.He did say he doesn't want to manage to 75
and he turns 66 in May.He did also say
if he has a good season he would want to come back.I think they will bring him back if they have
a good season but if they get off to a slow start he will be in trouble.

Dillon Gee will be the sixth
starter, not prospect Noah Syndergaard.Collins wants to see similar determination out of Syndergaard as he has
seen out of Matt Harvey.John Mayberry
Jr. provides the Mets with a lot of options.He can play the outfield, back up first base and a righty off of the
bench.Rule five pick LHP Sean Gilmartin
will get a lot of work this spring and will get the chance to face lefty
batters to see if he can get them out.Rafael Montero will be looked at as both a starter and reliever this
spring.

Here are some things Syndergaard
spoke to the media about on Wednesday.He
said he learned how to become a pitcher more than a thrower last season.He said especially learned that he can't rely
on his fastball all the time.He put a
lot of pressure on himself last season , paying special attention to the Super
2 cutoff date.He said he eventually
deleted twitter from his phone to avoid the news reports and fan comments.

Syndergaard said he wasn't ready
for the major leagues last season and didn't deserve the call up.He was still disappointed not to get called
up in September and will use that as motivation going forward.He really loved working with AAA pitching
coach Frank Viola last season. Viola
helped him with his changeup among other things.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Ivan Nova threw a bullpen on
Tuesday and was very encouraged.He is
working his way back from Tommy John surgery and could be ready by June.It was Nova's third bullpen session since the
surgery.He threw 25 pitches which were
all fastballs.He is supposed to do that
four times before he adds changeups and then after a few fastball/changeup
bullpens he will begin throwing breaking pitches.

"One good thing, you know
you're not going to be ready in April," Nova said."So you prepare yourself to be ready
whenever they tell me.I don't have to
be thinking right now that I've got to be ready in April, so that's kind of
fortunate.I'm just taking it day by
day, and I know that - I believe a month before they think I'm going to be
ready to go to the big leagues , they're going to tell me.So that's the time when I'm going to really
prepare for that day."

Alex Rodriguez worked out at the
minor league complex again and spent some time with Chase Headley.Chris Capuano threw live batting practice on
Tuesday morning and was the first of four to do that.He said he knows that his spot in the
rotation is far from a lock but he is happy to get the oppurtunity to try and
win the spot.

Carlos Beltran had a full day of
drills and batting practice.He is
allowed to do that because he is a rehabbing player.Andrew Bailey is the only experienced closer
in camp with the Yankees.He is still
only 30 although he is coming back from a couple years of being injured.He threw a bullpen on Tuesday afternoon and
stated he feels good and is very excited to try and make the team.He has thrown five bullpens since he reported
to Tampa after the Super Bowl.He is
given more time in between them just as a precaution but hopes that will end
soon enough.He expects to throw live
batting practice next week and have enough time to get in games and get his
innings that he could break camp if he makes the team.Joe Girardi said he looked good and there was
a big difference from last year to this year.

Girardi said he expects Rodriguez,
Beltran and CC Sabathia to be ready to go in games when the exhibition schedule
begins.He said on Wednesday that he
expects Rodriguez to play in the first or second spring game.Rodriguez was asked about the leadership void
on Tuesday with the retirement of Derek Jeter."First, no one can replace the Captain," Rodriguez told
reporters."I know I'm going to
miss him tremendously.I've been around
a long time, and I've seen a lot of things.If guys want to ask questions, I love talking baseball, and you guys
know that better than anyone.I love the
game, and I love to talk it.Whoever needs
my help, I'm available."

Didi Gregorius the new shortstop
said that he got some hitting tips from Rodriguez on Tuesday."He's a good teammate," Gregorius
said.He said that he walked in to the
complex and introduced himself to everyone.So far so good with injuries as there has been nothing to report.

Girardi spoke with Rodriguez about
playing first base on Wednesday and Rodriguez said I will do anything for
Joe.The big story on Wednesday was Mark
Teixeira and that he isn't doing his little internet show Foul Territory
anymore.He also stated that he lost
fifteen pounds of fat and then put back on 13 pounds of muscle.He said he was happy to get back to weight
lifting and being a big strong guy who will be a power hitter again.He said that he isn't going to hit the ball
the other way and be a slap hitter.

Mariano Rivera showed up and will
be there for about ten days.He is a
guest instructor and is allowed to do what he wants to do basically like when
he was a player.Luis Severino threw
another bullpen on Wednesday afternoon and drew a big crowd.Everyone reported on time and there were no
issues, everyone passed their physicals.

The new hitting coach Jeff Pentland
introduced himself to the writers.He
talked a little bit about being excited to work with Arod and his views on the
shift.He said he is only a good hitting
coach if they have good players.It is
pretty much true although I think they could make some difference with certain
players especially younger ones.Girardi
said he expects to have some intrasquad games before the exhibition schedule
begins next week.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Here are some notes about the Mets
on a Monday a couple of days before the full squad reports and it gets louder
and more active with games beginning next week.These notes are courtesy of Matthew Cerrone and Metsblog.com.

Terry Collins the manager met with
the media and here is some of what he had to say.Matt Reynolds will get a lot of playing time
at short this spring as will Ruben Tejada and Wilmer Flores.

Juan Lagares will most likely bat
leadoff.

Lucas Duda will play first base
against lefties, but there will be days where Michael Cuddyer or John Mayberry
Jr. play first base.

Collins will use rule five pick LHP
Sean Gilmartin early and often to get a good look at what they have with
him.

LHP Scott Rice, LHP Jack
Leathersich,and RHP Erik Goeddel also
have a shot at the last bullpen spot.

Eric Campbell the utility infielder
is working hard to also be a catcher.He
is taking some ribbing from his teammates but he is serious about it.It isn't just fooling around during spring
training.

Cuddyer met with the media also on
Monday and here is some of what he had to say.

The biggest thing was him talking
about Troy Tulowitzki and how he would be a great fit on the Mets.I understand the risk with him, he has to be
healthy and his splits are pretty start home and away but he is a talent that a
team like the Mets should go for.He
could put them over the top, of course he has to be healthy and stay healthy
which is an issue with him.

Cuddyer said he liked what he saw
from the Mets last season and said he liked the potential that he saw in
them.

Quite a few teams expressed
interest in him, and he was close to accepting the qualifying offer from
Colorado until the Mets sent a deal to him.

He's not worried about moving away
from Coors Field, as long as he keeps the same approach that works for
him."I don't see it being a
problem at all," he said.

It started out as a normal Monday
morning during pitchers and catchers.There wasn't too much going on, the biggest thing was going to be Luis
Severino facing hitters.Then the news
broke this morning that the Boston Red Sox signed Yoan Moncada.Then if that wasn't enough around 11:00AM who
showed up but none other than Alex Rodriguez to take his physical and then to
head over to the minor league complex to have a workout.It was a crazy day for sure in Tampa.

The Yankees did make a 25 million
dollar offer to Moncada but they really didn't want to budge off of that.They said they would go to 27 million if he
would sign and from the reports it sounded like Brian Cashman the GM was
pushing for him but the owner Hal Steinbrenner said no.The Red Sox ultimately bid 31.5 or around
there and got him. The thing about him
is he is so young and will be in the minors for a couple of years most
likely.He also costs double do to the
tax most teams would have to pay on him.Moncada liked the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox
and San Diego Padres equally and it was going to come down to who bid the
highest and everyone started at 25 million of those teams.I think he would of been a good fit on the
Yankees and don't see a really good fit for Boston but they ended up getting
him and we will see in the future how that works out.

Alex Rodriguez was of course the
main story of the day.He showed up took
his physical and then had an hour workout at the minor league complex.He started out throwing around a medicine
ball, he took some grounders at third base and took 70 swings and hit six
homeruns if you care about that stuff.Yes there were people keeping track.He then posed for pictures and signed autographs with all the fans and
spoke to the media for around eight minutes.Here is some of what he had to say.

Arod said he is still training to
play 3B even with the presence of Chase Headley.He said "I think Chase is an excellent
addition to our team,"Rodriguez
said."We had a nice conversation a
little bit ago.Talked about winning,
talked about how great it is to play in New York, in front of the greatest
fans.Talked about the Stadium.I'm looking forward to being his
teammate."

He didn't take any groundballs on
the right side of the infield but did say he was open to playing 1B if he was
asked.He said whatever Joe wants him to
do he will do.He said he felt very
welcomed and that he has strong relationships in the locker room.As for any lingering bad feelings he said.
" I created a big headache for a lot of people."He said he still thinks he can play third
base.He said he will still be productive
as long as he is healthy and said flatly that he isn't currently taking any
illegal substance.

He said, "No mistake that I
made has a good answer, or no justification, and that's on me.I've dug a big hole for myself and paid a
price.I'm fortunate for a lot of
people, especially the commissioner's office, the players union, the Yankees,
to give me an opportunity to play the game that I love."

I would say it went pretty well for
him arriving and having the media storm.I think it was a good idea for him to arrive early.There will probably be a large crowd tomorrow
and every day for a while but he got the questions out of the way and the shock
of him showing up out of the way and now he can just go to work.If he keeps his mouth shut and stays clean
eventually all the talk will be about his play on the field and that is what
everyone wants at this point.You can't
go back in time, the damage has been done but he can write another chapter and
make it a good one.Stay tuned to see
what tomorrow brings.

The New York Mets pitchers and
catchers reported on Thursday.The Mets
for the first time in a long time have some real optimism and are looking at
competing for a playoff spot.That is
mainly because of the goodyoung
pitching they have and especially getting their ace back Matt Harvey.Harvey is good but he also brings something
extra to the team.He is a confident guy
who won't settle for losing and that has rubbed off on the Mets.

Mets manager Terry Collins
addressed the media on Saturday which was their first official workout.Here are some of the highlights of what he
had to say.Harvey will pitch in one of
the first five games of the season.He
isn't sure if Harvey will pitch the home opener though.They open on the road against the Nationals
and the Braves.Harvey will be used the
same way that the Cardinals used Adam Wainwright back in 2012 when he was
coming back from Tommy John surgery.He
pitched 198 2/3 innings that season.

Harvey will not be skipping any
starts but he will have five inning starts from time to time.Collins wants Bobby Parnell to close when he
returns but if Jenrry Mejia or another reliever is dominant as a closer he will
remain there.Dillon Gee will prepare
for a starting role but if all six starters are still with the team come the
end of the spring he will move to the bullpen.The leadoff spot is up in the air between Juan Lagares and Curtis
Granderson.He said the Mets are
absolutely a playoff team and added "We have been sitting around for four
years saying to be patient.It's time
for guys to step up and play the way they are expected to play".

Here is what Harvey had to say to
the medial also on Saturday.There is no
easing into it for him.He anticipates
that he won't reach the low 200s in innings pitched.He said somewhere around 180 or so which is
just throwing a number out there.He
said there was a mention of skipping starts in a brief meeting with GM Sandy Alderson.He said it was a tough question to say if he
would rather skip starts or be limited to five inning starts.He said it is the managers call in the end
but all five guys wouldn't want to do that and coming out of a game early is a
tough decision.

He said there really was no tension
between him and the team during rehab last year and he thinks a lot of it was
made up.He said internally they were
fine.He said he will discuss scaling
back his workload between starts.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

New York Yankees pitchers and
catchers and Carlos Beltran because of his injury took the field for the first
time as a team on Friday morning.It was
a welcome sight for many in the northeast as the winter has everyone looking
forward to spring.There wasn't too much
going on as is standard early in the spring.There were some easy bullpens, some PFP which is pitchers fielding
practice if you didn't know and some jogging and stretching.The catchers also took some batting
practice.

A big topic on the first day was CC
Sabathia and gaining his weight back.He
lost a lot of weight over the last two seasons and everyone was asking for him
to get heavy again because they felt it affected him.It turns out they may have been right as
Sabathia talked about not having the right balance, we will see though as the
games start if he is just done or if he has anything left.I will say that the extra weight can't be
good for his degenerative knee.

Joe Girardi acknowledged on
Saturday that the Yankees will "do things more in this spring
training" to teach hitters to beat the defensive shift.It doesn't look like the Yankees are trying
to force anything on the hitters but they are talking about it and preaching it
which I think is a good thing.The game
has changed and offense is down, in my opinion the hitters need to adjust and
take what is given to them.If they hit
enough balls the other way and beat the shift, the shift will stop
eventually.

McCann was one of the guys affected
by the shift the most.He has been
working on beating it all winter but said that wasn't the biggest reason for
his numbers being down.He said that his
bat path last year was out of whack.He
said he had to go back during the off-season and study what he was doing
wrong.He said he was able to pinpoint
what the problem was and he feels good coming into camp.McCann caught only one bullpen on the first
day but it was from a new guy.The new
guy is not new to McCann though as he and David Carpenter worked together in
Atlanta.He is high on him saying he
setup for Kimbrel in Atlanta and the Yankees are expecting big things this year
from him.

McCann said he was sent about 10-15
video clips of every new pitcher this year and they must of been pretty long
clips.He said he feels like he saw
pretty much every outing from last year of all of those pitchers.

Carlos Beltran went through
outfield drills with Rob Thomson and took batting practice with McCann and also
John Ryan Murphy and Austin Romine.There were three pitchers who attracted the most attention from the
media on day one.They were Sabathia
because of being injured last year, Jacob Lindgren who was last year's top pick
and is quickly rising through the ranks.They feel he could be on the big league club this season.The last guy is Luis Severino who is
considered the Yankees top prospect.Joe
Girardi said "It's a live arm", It's a player who is bigger in
stature than I thought when I heard some of the comparisons.He's bigger than I thought.A lot of times you worry about the rigors of
players that are extremely thin, but he's a strong young kid, I believe, with a
lot of talent."

The Yankees hired former Angels
outfielder Reggie Willits to be their minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator.He'll be one of several minor league coaches
working with the players in big league camp this year.

Joe Girardi said this after day
one,“There’s a collection of good young
arms here. Obviously there’s guys that you’ve seen, but you look at the younger
players that we had a chance to look at today. Those are some pretty good arms.
And it’s not just from one side. It’s not just right-handed or left-handed,
it’s both. And that’s exciting to us.”

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About Me

I am a 31 year old male who is married with a baby girl on the way. I love sports and if you see by my blog under my links I am a huge sports fan. Baseball and the Yankees are my favorite. I am a season ticket holder for the Yankees. I live in wayne,NJ.